Fiber bundle-based imaging systems employ a bundle of coherent imaging fibers to transfer an image from a distal end, where the object is located, to a proximal end, where the image is either recorded on a detector or viewed by an observer. The major advantage of fiber bundle imaging systems is their inherent flexibility and ability to reach remote areas, such as those inside the human body, which are difficult to reach with conventional imaging systems. However, the spatial resolution and space-bandwidth product and number of pixels in the images are limited by the physical structure of the fiber bundle. Because the fiber bundle only passes light incident on the fiber cores, light incident on the claddings is lost, which results in lowered throughput and a structured fixed pattern noise in the images. Moreover, the inherent sampling leads to potential aliasing of high spatial frequency information.
However, the spatial resolution and space-bandwidth product (# of pixels) in the images are limited by the physical structure of the fiber bundle. Because the fiber bundle passes only light incident on the cores, light incident on the cladding is lost, which results in lowered throughput and a structured fixed pattern noise in the images. Moreover, the inherent sampling, due to the non-zero core-to-core spacing of adjacent fibers in the fiber bundle leads to the potential for aliasing of high spatial frequency information.